time2testit

Review: I have had this for about a year now. It is a thermo-electric type. It does hold the rated number of bottles. When some bottles are excessively wide I just take out the bottom shelf and the space allows for larger bottles by allowing them to nest somewhat without sacrificing count.

The one lack I can see for long-term cellaring is that the temperature is not controlled to a certain number, rather there is a higher/lower dial inside which controls the cooling. This may mean that the flux rather than the temperature is controlled which will result in slightly higher temperature swings.

I personally use this one not for long term storage but rather for the short term. I have a wine locker for the other 10 cases I own. ($14/month)

MarkDaSpark

dsapp wrote:I recently up-sized to a larger wine cellar and wouldn't mind passing on two of my smaller units to a local wooter. I live in southwest Connecticut, just off I-95, about an hour from NYC.

Unit 1: Magic Chef (Model: MCWC45A). It is designed to hold 45 bottles and is black in color. I bought it new 2 years ago for about $225. It works perfectly and has no cosmetic flaws. I have the manual.

Unit 2: Urbina Design (Model: UD28iB, thermoelectric). It is designed to hold 28 bottles and is black in color with tinted glass. I bought it new 3 years ago for about $200. It works perfectly and has no cosmetic flaws. I can't find the manual, but it is probably available online.

In terms of prices, I am completely negotiable. If you're a "new wooter" just starting out and have a limited budget, I'm fine with your trading me a couple bottles of wine for one of them. I'm really just looking to clear some space and am willing to basically give them to someone who will put them to good use.

If you are interested, send me a PM or post something here and we can make arrangements.

Cheers!

Good luck!

Someone has to put WD's kids thru college, but why does it have to be me! *This post is for purposes of enabling only, and does not constitute any promise of helping pay for said enabling. It does indicate willingness to assist in drinking said wine.

dsapp

I recently up-sized to a larger wine cellar and wouldn't mind passing on two of my smaller units to a local wooter. I live in southwest Connecticut, just off I-95, about an hour from NYC.

Unit 1: Magic Chef (Model: MCWC45A). It is designed to hold 45 bottles and is black in color. I bought it new 2 years ago for about $225. It works perfectly and has no cosmetic flaws. I have the manual.

Unit 2: Urbina Design (Model: UD28iB, thermoelectric). It is designed to hold 28 bottles and is black in color with tinted glass. I bought it new 3 years ago for about $200. It works perfectly and has no cosmetic flaws. I can't find the manual, but it is probably available online.

In terms of prices, I am completely negotiable. If you're a "new wooter" just starting out and have a limited budget, I'm fine with your trading me a couple bottles of wine for one of them. I'm really just looking to clear some space and am willing to basically give them to someone who will put them to good use.

If you are interested, send me a PM or post something here and we can make arrangements.

For those of you with the Vissani, what number do you find is the best to keep it on for the dial? I don't know how anyone could really keep many more than 27 or so bottles in it without lots of stacking and having to pull much out when you want to actually drink something.

wkdpanda

smartheart wrote:I am still looking for a very reaonably priced wine cooler capable of holding 250-350 bottles. It should be a dependably-reviewed model. It should be new or very gently used.

I live in the WASHINGTON, DC area.

If it is used, I am unable to pick it up so some delivery option would have to be figured out. A new one would presumbably have delivery available with purchase.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

I found Craig's List and E-Bay to be useful. There was a couple in Falls Church selling a 400 bottle one a year ago, but they wanted waay too much money (like 75% of retail) for a used cooler. Found mine in Nashville, and took a weekend to drive down and get it. Its decent, and I only paid $600 (including travel to pick it up).

Currently, there is a large cabinet (400+ bottles) available out in Herndon VA area for 500. Sounds like a good deal, with a relatively new cooler unit. You would have to deal with moving it, but inside the DC area, a uhaul and some strong backs can move it for less than $100.

Does anyone who has this have any comments on it? The price is hard to beat, but the storage looks less than ideal. I personally wouldn't be bothered too much by not being able to easily access most of the bottles, as I am just looking for a good storage solution. This will only meet the storage for half of my current wines, but is suitable for the ones I intend on "cellaring" anyway.

Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Is the fact that is a compressor unit rather than a thermo-electric really that much of an issue?

cheron98

North316 wrote:Does anyone who has this have any comments on it? The price is hard to beat, but the storage looks less than ideal. I personally wouldn't be bothered too much by not being able to easily access most of the bottles, as I am just looking for a good storage solution. This will only meet the storage for half of my current wines, but is suitable for the ones I intend on "cellaring" anyway.

Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Is the fact that is a compressor unit rather than a thermo-electric really that much of an issue?

I have looked at that for the past two Black Fridays now and keep ultimately deciding against it for one reason or another. This past year, I did a little more research into it and discovered that this is the lowest end of the Magic Chef line of wine coolers of similar capacity. The minimum temperature that the fridge gets to is rated at 68 degrees. This is not much lower than what most people tend keep their houses at, and thus serves no purpose other than to be "pretty". You'd do just as good a job keeping the wine in boxes in your basement.

North316

cheron98 wrote:I have looked at that for the past two Black Fridays now and keep ultimately deciding against it for one reason or another. This past year, I did a little more research into it and discovered that this is the lowest end of the Magic Chef line of wine coolers of similar capacity. The minimum temperature that the fridge gets to is rated at 68 degrees. This is not much lower than what most people tend keep their houses at, and thus serves no purpose other than to be "pretty". You'd do just as good a job keeping the wine in boxes in your basement.

If I had a basement that would be an option, but alas I don't. The reviews are mixed on the temperature, some say it doesn't make them cold enough, some say it sits at 55% at no problem. Seem like it may be hit or miss, or depends of location, both geographical and in home. Maybe I will keep an eye out on the price and see if I can catch it on sale and give it a try. Any other feedback from anyone who has one would be great.

Living in Toledo, Ohio, my craigslist options are very limited. This isn't exactly a wine mecca.

mattneumeyer

North316 wrote:If I had a basement that would be an option, but alas I don't. The reviews are mixed on the temperature, some say it doesn't make them cold enough, some say it sits at 55% at no problem. Seem like it may be hit or miss, or depends of location, both geographical and in home. Maybe I will keep an eye out on the price and see if I can catch it on sale and give it a try. Any other feedback from anyone who has one would be great.

Living in Toledo, Ohio, my craigslist options are very limited. This isn't exactly a wine mecca.

With a house temperature of 70-78 mine sits at 55 degrees with no problems (I keep a thermometer in it and check semi-regularly). I can fit 40 bottles in it too with a little stacking. Not the most convenient wine fridge out there I'm sure, but it is great for the price.

kylemittskus

I think my Craigslist steal of a 500 bottle Vinoteque for free is donezo. I don't think it's cooling anymore; it's just running and wasting electricity. F@&$!!!!!! Looks like I may be buying a full-priced cooler. Probably in the 300-400 range. Unless any of you have an idea as to how to fix the cooling unit?

"If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine." -Rainer Maria Rilke

"Champagne is a very kind and friendly thing on a rainy night." -Isak Dinesen

rjquillin

I think my Craigslist steal of a 500 bottle Vinoteque for free is donezo. I don't think it's cooling anymore; it's just running and wasting electricity. F@&$!!!!!! Looks like I may be buying a full-priced cooler. Probably in the 300-400 range. Unless any of you have an idea as to how to fix the cooling unit?

Sounds very similar to what I had to do the CL unit I pick up as well, pic in other cooler thread. The condenser coil was so plugged up with restaurant grease it wouldn't pass any airflow at all. Had to near totally OH the chiller unit; strip and paint, replace dryer, pump down and recharge. A call to some service facility that repairs domestic units may be in order. Unless the compressor is hosed, I'd hope the repair would be much less than a new box or refrigeration unit.

kylemittskus

rjquillin wrote:Sounds very similar to what I had to do the CL unit I pick up as well, pic in other cooler thread. The condenser coil was so plugged up with restaurant grease it wouldn't pass any airflow at all. Had to near totally OH the chiller unit; strip and paint, replace dryer, pump down and recharge. A call to some service facility that repairs domestic units may be in order. Unless the compressor is hosed, I'd hope the repair would be much less than a new box or refrigeration unit.

I thought about that. I'll look for a fridge repair shop around me and see if they can fix it for a couple hundred bucks. I can hear it running; it's just not cold.

"If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine." -Rainer Maria Rilke

"Champagne is a very kind and friendly thing on a rainy night." -Isak Dinesen

rjquillin

kylemittskus wrote:I thought about that. I'll look for a fridge repair shop around me and see if they can fix it for a couple hundred bucks. I can hear it running; it's just not cold.

Thinking about this a bit... If it's been running for some time, without cycling, there is a possibility your evap coil has frozen over. Can you see it? If the coil gets frozen the airflow is so reduced the effective cooling is reduced to nil, and it just keeps running to try to lower the temp, but can't. If this is you case, try unplugging the unit so it has time to defrost the coil, then plug it back in and see what happens. Can you measure the temp of the discharge air?

kylemittskus

rjquillin wrote:Thinking about this a bit... If it's been running for some time, without cycling, there is a possibility your evap coil has frozen over. Can you see it? If the coil gets frozen the airflow is so reduced the effective cooling is reduced to nil, and it just keeps running to try to lower the temp, but can't. If this is you case, try unplugging the unit so it has time to defrost the coil, then plug it back in and see what happens. Can you measure the temp of the discharge air?

Nope. Can't see th coil. I don't have anything to measure the discharged air either, but I will unplug the unit right now and leave it for a while. Thanks for the idea. Fingers crossed.

"If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine." -Rainer Maria Rilke

"Champagne is a very kind and friendly thing on a rainy night." -Isak Dinesen

ericclem

cheron98 wrote:I have looked at that for the past two Black Fridays now and keep ultimately deciding against it for one reason or another. This past year, I did a little more research into it and discovered that this is the lowest end of the Magic Chef line of wine coolers of similar capacity. The minimum temperature that the fridge gets to is rated at 68 degrees. This is not much lower than what most people tend keep their houses at, and thus serves no purpose other than to be "pretty". You'd do just as good a job keeping the wine in boxes in your basement.

I've had one of these for the past year. I keep it running at about 3/4 of the dial down and it keeps my bottles at about 55 degrees, even in the hot NY summer heat. It was a black friday buy for me and I don't regret it one bit. It's not silent and it's not pretty, but it works. And I keep 52 bottles in it. It requires a lot of fudging around to make that happen but it does work.

time2testit

ericclem wrote:I've had one of these for the past year. I keep it running at about 3/4 of the dial down and it keeps my bottles at about 55 degrees, even in the hot NY summer heat. It was a black friday buy for me and I don't regret it one bit. It's not silent and it's not pretty, but it works. And I keep 52 bottles in it. It requires a lot of fudging around to make that happen but it does work.

I got one also about 4 months or more ago and it seems to be keeping things at 55 or so. It definitely isn't holding close to 52 bottles and I don't know how loud it gets because it is downstairs but it is certainly cooler than the basement which is around 65 or so.

kylemittskus

In the interim of finding a new wine cellar, could I just put a block of dry ice at the top of the cooler and use that to cool my wine? If he's, how long would it last before I had to replace the block?

**End of potentially stupid question alert**

"If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine." -Rainer Maria Rilke

"Champagne is a very kind and friendly thing on a rainy night." -Isak Dinesen

klezman

In the interim of finding a new wine cellar, could I just put a block of dry ice at the top of the cooler and use that to cool my wine? If he's, how long would it last before I had to replace the block?

**End of potentially stupid question alert**

That's not going to guarantee you much other than it will be cold in there. And devoid of oxygen. But your wine definitely wouldn't cook, and those unfined/unfiltered wines might get a dose of cold stabilization, too!

I just got a wine cabinet that'll hold ~300 bottles, but not Rhone-size ones! None of the Twisted Oak will fit! Guess I'm going to have to keep my other smaller wine fridge too. Craigslist for $400!

kylemittskus

klezman wrote:That's not going to guarantee you much other than it will be cold in there. And devoid of oxygen. But your wine definitely wouldn't cook, and those unfined/unfiltered wines might get a dose of cold stabilization, too!

I just got a wine cabinet that'll hold ~300 bottles, but not Rhone-size ones! None of the Twisted Oak will fit! Guess I'm going to have to keep my other smaller wine fridge too. Craigslist for $400!

So, on a scale from 1 to terrible ides, where does it fall? And do you know how long it would last before i needed a new one?

"If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine." -Rainer Maria Rilke

"Champagne is a very kind and friendly thing on a rainy night." -Isak Dinesen

rjquillin

So that ~450 bottle box I posted a pic of that I'm refurbishing, I still had the gauges on the hi/lo lines monitoring pressures to make sure I was happy with them before closing it all up. Blew a stem seal on the hi line and lost all the R22; grumph. At first I thought I had a leak in the system I had OH'd, but it was an equipment failure. Now, to pump it down and recharge it again; sigh. Also adding some additional insulation on the exterior to help out the overall efficiency and minimize thermal loss and power consumption. Function over form and beauty for this one.

klezman

kylemittskus wrote:So, on a scale from 1 to terrible ides, where does it fall? And do you know how long it would last before i needed a new one?

It's not a terrible idea, but I doubt you really need it if you keep the cabinet closed most of the time and maybe use a few frozen bottles of water to keep things cooler. Unless the air surrounding it gets very warm. No idea how long it would last.

kylemittskus

klezman wrote:It's not a terrible idea, but I doubt you really need it if you keep the cabinet closed most of the time and maybe use a few frozen bottles of water to keep things cooler. Unless the air surrounding it gets very warm. No idea how long it would last.

It was going to hit 90 at my house and we're gone for 5 days in HI. I did it; we'll see. Better than nuffin' I s'pose.

"If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine." -Rainer Maria Rilke

"Champagne is a very kind and friendly thing on a rainy night." -Isak Dinesen

baqui63

I'm in NY City (Flushing, Queens) and need a wine storage solution. My finished basement is generally within a few degrees of 67 all year round, though the humidity varies. I'm looking for something to store my wine, potentially long term, not hold it at serving temperature, so I'm thinking a single zone (at 55) is what I need. It need not be pretty as I can hide it in a corner of the basement.

Bigger is better, since I cannot seem to stop sending wine.woot money, even though I'm not all that savvy about any of this. At present I have about 100 bottles, with more on the way from the recent woot-off.

I've been looking on CL and have seen units from Summit, eg the 1875 one that holds up to 108 bottles (maybe, if juggled right) for ~$600, and wonder what comments people have. I was also thinking about a smaller unit, like the 35 bottle Danby one (my gf has offered to buy me something as a b'day gift and the Danby at ~$250 delivered is in her price range). The $600 is about the most I can afford, even with the gf's help.

Quite frankly, I don't trust CL (not worried about getting killed, just getting ripped off) but I'm clearly not able to afford paying retail so I guess I'll have to accept some risk.

rjquillin

I'm in NY City (Flushing, Queens) and need a wine storage solution. My finished basement is generally within a few degrees of 67 all year round, though the humidity varies. I'm looking for something to store my wine, potentially long term, not hold it at serving temperature, so I'm thinking a single zone (at 55) is what I need. It need not be pretty as I can hide it in a corner of the basement.

Bigger is better, since I cannot seem to stop sending wine.woot money, even though I'm not all that savvy about any of this. At present I have about 100 bottles, with more on the way from the recent woot-off.

Quite frankly, I don't trust CL (not worried about getting killed, just getting ripped off) but I'm clearly not able to afford paying retail so I guess I'll have to accept some risk.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Oh, to have a true basement/cellar in California, like I did in Indiana!

Just picked up a working Breezair WKL8000 off CL for $140 last Tuesday. Build a 16 x 16 x 8 room around it and see what you can stuff in there!

North316

kylemittskus wrote:I think I'm going to suck it up and drop $3k on one of the dented/scratched Eurocave 285s that WE has right now.

I'm definitely not going that high, but I'm debating whether I want to go cheap and pick up a couple smaller 30-50 bottles units, or just go big and get a 150-200 bottle unit. I can get several smaller units for much cheaper, but in the end I will probably regret it.

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